The interview is on a media player about halfway down the article. It's actually one of Wilson's better interviews, IMO.

Remember how Darrell Bevell nearly got the Bears HC job but lost it to some CFL coach? Well it turns out that CFL coach was the OC at NC State about 6 years ago, and was the very person responsible for getting Russell Wilson (a 2 star recruit) a football scholarship there. Quoted from Russell Wilson:

“(Trestman) was the guy that said, ‘This guy can play.’ I already knew that,” Wilson told The McNeil and Spiegel Show. “I knew my ability, but he came up to me and he was the coach that said, ‘This guy can play. We need to offer this guy (a scholarship) right now.’ So, N.C. State offered me (a scholarship) right on the spot. Coach Trestman knew that I had the ability. I have a lot of respect for coach Trestman. I talk to him probably once a week, maybe a little bit less than that. I talk to him a good amount. We’ve always kept in touch over the years.

“A lot of guys thought I could play, but they didn’t know if I could play just because of my height, but he knew that I could.”

Anyone who recognized Wilson's greatness out of high school can't be that bad a coach. Hopefully he can keep the Bears competitive enough to prevent any more 15-1 Packers seasons from happening.

One cool thing about that article is how it demonstrates how completely the script has been flipped. What Russell Wilson says matters around the league now, and in this case, his opinion is being used as a proof point.

kearly wrote:Anyone who recognized Wilson's greatness out of high school can't be that bad a coach. Hopefully he can keep the Bears competitive enough to prevent any more 15-1 Packers seasons from happening.

...but not so well that the Bears end up having 15-1 seasons...

Doug Baldwin took a hit to the head when he was younger and now can't remember how to drop a football. - SomersetHawk

Trestman can coach QB's... no doubt. I actually think that hire by the Bears was excellent. If he can't help cure Cutler, no one can

ImTheScientist wrote:This guy is the closest thing to beast mode we will ever see. You got a glimpse of that yesterday. He was instantly my favorite player when they signed him. Give the dude a chance and don't overreact or overthink preseason. Go Hawks. Lacy will rush for 1,100 and 10TDs. Bend the knee.

Side Note on Trestman that I just wanna get out: He may have been a head coach in the CFL, but he isn't exactly what you would label a "CFL Coach" per se. The main reason he came up to the CFL was to be a "Head Coach" at the professional level (Commence amateur jokes). I highly doubt there are many coaches with his resume that would push their ego to the side, and have the stones to come up here to do that. The man has 17 years NFL experience and was the offensive coordinator for the Raiders the last time they were relevant, and may have even won a superbowl if it wasn't for some conspiracy theory . He also get talked about in fairly high regards by a few household names;http://www.coachmarctrestman.com/Buzz-about-Marc.html

Actually Trestman wasn't responsible for getting Wilson to State, the baseball coach was. He introduced RW to Trestman, who gave him the workout. Russell had already been offered a baseball scholarship. By the time he got to school Amato and Trestman had already been fired. He still managed to win the starting job at quarterback after his red shirt year while never becoming the starter at baseball.

Most of the story had been linked through a Toronto paper here the week before the Bills game.

AVL wrote:Actually Trestman wasn't responsible for getting Wilson to State, the baseball coach was. He introduced RW to Trestman, who gave him the workout. Russell had already been offered a baseball scholarship. By the time he got to school Amato and Trestman had already been fired. He still managed to win the starting job at quarterback after his red shirt year while never becoming the starter at baseball.

Most of the story had been linked through a Toronto paper here the week before the Bills game.

As an NC State fan, I have every reason to believe that Trestman will be a failure in the NFL just as I believed that Russell Wilson would be a success in the NFL based on their time at NC State. Trestman was a horrible offensive coordinator. Given, our talent on offense was indeed offensive, but Trestman called bubble screens and quick slants on every series. The bubble screen was his go-to play and it never worked. He had no idea how to use two running backs that were clearly our best players and both made rosters in the NFL. I believe Wilson if he says that Trestman went against the grain and identified him as a potential star--thanks for that. But, he ran our offense into the ground.

By the way, Russell was at NC State on a football scholarship, not a baseball scholarship. I can't remember which coach approached him first, but it was always expected that he would play two sports.